Zenith Group, the Australian owners of dormant NZ research house FundSource, has sold out to UK investment data specialist FE fundinfo.
FE bought the Zenith business in whole from management and private equity firm Five V Capital in a deal inked last week.
Under the arrangement, FE will take over the fund research arm Zenith Investment Partners and superannuation consultancy unit Chant West.
Zenith acquired Chant West last July following a fractious legal dispute.
In a statement, Zenith chief, David Wright, said under FE ownership the firm would “expand our research, data and technology solutions offering to Australian clients, while also giving us the opportunity to explore a global reach”.
The Melbourne-headquartered Zenith purchased FundSource from the NZX in May 2019 for about $340,000 but has been slow to kick off in NZ with COVID disruptions in particular stalling trans-Tasman business development.
FE previously supplied data to FundSource when it was owned by the NZX.
Meanwhile, FE chief, Hamish Purdey, said with Zenith the UK-based firm “will be able to further support and meet the needs of the global investment industry and deliver new and even more innovative solutions for our clients”.
“As factors such as increasing regulation, the growth in ESG investing and the development of new technology all continue to revolutionise the global funds industry, there is a greater need than ever for advisers and asset managers to have access to the very best data, ratings and research to allow their clients to make the most of the opportunities in this new landscape,” Purdey said.
FE opened a Sydney office in 2014 before purchasing financial trade publications Money Management and Super Review from Reed Business Information three years later.
Globally, FE counts about 1,000 fund managers and distributions as clients along with almost 4,000 financial advisers.
The group has sealed several acquisitions of late including environmental, social and governance (ESG) specialist, CSSP, in 2020 while picking up UK cashflow planning firm CashCalc and European data provider, FundConnect, this year.